30 July 2010
by Rocky ProzellercloseAuthor: Rocky Prozeller
Name: Rocky Prozeller
Site: http://www.communispace.com
About: Rocky is a Senior Community Manager at Communispace, focused on aligning communities to clients’ business objectives and priorities. He ensures that client teams strive to exceed clients’ expectations and consistently deliver actionable insights. Passionate about his family and his dog, Izzy McQueen, dubbed for her uncanny ability to make great escapes from anywhere, Rocky expends his abundant energy by running, weight-training, reading, and routing for another Red Sox World Series ring.See Authors Posts (33)
Did you know there are currently 10 elephants enrolled in painting schools in Thailand, and among the trunks toting paint brushes, the overwhelmingly preferred color is purple?
Did you know there are currently 10 elephants enrolled in painting schools in Thailand, and among the trunks toting paint brushes, the overwhelmingly preferred color is purple?
Having trouble sorting fact from fiction? You’re not alone.
According to the 2010 USC Annenberg Digital Future Study released earlier this week, nearly 80 percent of Web users rely on the Internet as a rolodex for informed reading, but a significantly smaller segment believes the spouted stats are sincere – and those digits are dropping annually. Ten years ago, 55 percent considered the majority of material concrete; in today’s edition that number dropped to 39 percent, a new low for the Digital Future Project.
Even search engines such as Google and Yahoo – traditional stalwarts of online sincerity – have lost some of their luster, dropping 11 percent on the reliability register. But what’s most stimulating (or simply scary) is the significant slide in trust even among websites we choose to visit regularly, a stat which trickled down for the third time in as many years.
If consumer confidence in online information continues to erode, how long do companies have before the lack of faith moves beyond the one medium and infects a brand’s overall believability? This raises the real question of how to win that confidence back and attain the vaunted status of ‘old faithful’.
Solid relationships require true trust – an attribute earned, not owed. The one direction offered by websites, purely pushing information out, isn’t engaging enough to build the requisite rapport needed to create certitude – that requires a two-way dialogue. Dynamic conversations allow consumers to think, test and ultimately interact with a concept; the ability to challenge inspires confidence.
Providing a platform for pondering back and forth is a means for entertaining the elephant in the room, that way we can sort fact from purple propaganda.
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Here’s to wishing readers from sea to shining sea a whale of a weekend as we jump out of July and attack August!
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18 June 2010
by Rocky ProzellercloseAuthor: Rocky Prozeller
Name: Rocky Prozeller
Site: http://www.communispace.com
About: Rocky is a Senior Community Manager at Communispace, focused on aligning communities to clients’ business objectives and priorities. He ensures that client teams strive to exceed clients’ expectations and consistently deliver actionable insights. Passionate about his family and his dog, Izzy McQueen, dubbed for her uncanny ability to make great escapes from anywhere, Rocky expends his abundant energy by running, weight-training, reading, and routing for another Red Sox World Series ring.See Authors Posts (33)
Friday features the most welcomed of workweek traditions, Happy Hour; a simple sip of suds revs up the relaxation regime as we brew a better vibe. So which beer-top will you pop?
Out with a new campaign, Miller Lite is making a bid for you to buy their brew. Their advertising recipe offers a bit of beer-battering, with a series of spots featuring a frisky bartender belittling men as boys for their willingness to accept any light beer — pulling punches with overplayed ‘computer bag/carryall-as-purse’ lines, ‘lose-the-skirt’ statements and the like. The givers of ‘Great Taste, Less Filling’ have gone aggressive, challenging would-be chuggers to ‘man-up’ and have a Miller Lite.
Friday features the most welcomed of workweek traditions, Happy Hour; a simple sip of suds revs up the relaxation regime as we brew a better vibe. So which beer-top will you pop?
Out with a new campaign, Miller Lite is making a bid for you to buy their brew. Their advertising recipe offers a bit of beer-battering, with a series of spots featuring a frisky bartender belittling men as boys for their willingness to accept any light beer — pulling punches with overplayed ‘computer bag/carryall-as-purse’ lines, ‘lose-the-skirt’ statements and the like. The givers of ‘Great Taste, Less Filling’ have gone aggressive, challenging would-be chuggers to ‘man-up’ and have a Miller Lite.
At the other end of the cooler, Heineken Light is looking for the same segment of sip seekers, but with a dramatically different design. Their commercials cover a pair of 30-something pals at a Florida retirement community, raking in lessons on life from their elders. An education earned through experience is shared in a series of chat sessions, serving up a glass of appreciation for the classically cool; those handing down the hops help inspire future brewmasters to ‘See The Light.’ Heineken Light is never mentioned outright, just coyly covered by a couple of clips of camera work.
The difference is degradation versus aspiration. Light (and/or Lite) beers serve their purpose, simpler on the stomach and efficient space savers; but few beer buyers (particularly the guys both brewers are going after) define themselves, or more to the point, their manhood, by way of light beer. The context Miller Lite has created, testing testosterone levels by goading guys, falls flat; while Heineken helps itself by giving men the means to elevate their game — the difference is focusing on what we hope to be, rather than what we are not. It’s bottoms up.
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As always, a beat to help you break for the weekend in search of your own brouhaha; be sure to raise a mug in honor of the men you define as Dad!
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7 May 2010
by Rocky ProzellercloseAuthor: Rocky Prozeller
Name: Rocky Prozeller
Site: http://www.communispace.com
About: Rocky is a Senior Community Manager at Communispace, focused on aligning communities to clients’ business objectives and priorities. He ensures that client teams strive to exceed clients’ expectations and consistently deliver actionable insights. Passionate about his family and his dog, Izzy McQueen, dubbed for her uncanny ability to make great escapes from anywhere, Rocky expends his abundant energy by running, weight-training, reading, and routing for another Red Sox World Series ring.See Authors Posts (33)
Think Chocolate is better than Sunlight or Ninjas? You better vote, because it’s well behind in the rankings on The Most Awesomest Thing Ever, a website which pits unrelated objects, celebrities and activities against each other and then ranks them based on how many people think they are awesome.
Think Chocolate is better than Sunlight or Ninjas? You better vote, because it’s well behind in the rankings on The Most Awesomest Thing Ever, a website which pits unrelated objects, celebrities and activities against each other and then ranks them based on how many people think they are awesome.
“We had no idea it would take off like this,” says Michael Lebowitz, founder and CEO of Big Spaceship, the digital creative agency behind the website which launched April 15. “People spend hours on it. Someone on Twitter even likened it to ‘heroin-dusted Oreos,’ it’s just that addicting.” After just five days, the site stole a collective 18,000 hours from visitors debating between Nachos and Jazz Hands.
There’s something uniquely awesome about the site, beyond pitting cheeseburgers against cleavage. Rather than limiting would-be reviewers to a predetermined list, The Most Awesomest Thing Ever allows anyone a chance to add their own awesome ideas to the ever-building bank of battling items.
As market researchers we often set the context in which consumers can view a given product or brand by forcing our consideration set – what we see as the obvious or correct choices – into the equation, but that leaves little room for the answers we didn’t anticipate. It’s a confined conversation, which makes it more command than collaboration.
Having the courage to place control in the palms of the people pondering your problem opens up the opportunity to see what consumers actually see – not what we want them to. Do so, and you may just discover something unexpected. Now that would be awesome.
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A special shout out to the person I find most awesome, my mom; happy Mother’s Day to my only guaranteed reader and the rest of the moms out there!
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23 April 2010
by Rocky ProzellercloseAuthor: Rocky Prozeller
Name: Rocky Prozeller
Site: http://www.communispace.com
About: Rocky is a Senior Community Manager at Communispace, focused on aligning communities to clients’ business objectives and priorities. He ensures that client teams strive to exceed clients’ expectations and consistently deliver actionable insights. Passionate about his family and his dog, Izzy McQueen, dubbed for her uncanny ability to make great escapes from anywhere, Rocky expends his abundant energy by running, weight-training, reading, and routing for another Red Sox World Series ring.See Authors Posts (33)
Mr. Rogers rarely ran right into the Land Of Make-Believe – the man had a method for preparing for play post-work. The strategy started with singing during a sweater-for-coat exchange and shunning shoes for sneakers, ultimately culminating in calm. It wasn’t magic; his ‘routine of relaxation’ was powered by simple, everyday items.
Moving beyond the Land Of Make Believe, in the realm of reality lives my neighbor, Laura D; like the aforementioned master of puppets, she switches gears as soon as she walks through the door. “The House Sweater” is hefted off a hanger as part of a methodical, meditative moment; cotton provides the call to let go of the day.
Mr. Rogers rarely ran right into the Land Of Make-Believe – the man had a method for preparing for play post-work. The strategy started with singing during a sweater-for-coat exchange and shunning shoes for sneakers, ultimately culminating in calm. It wasn’t magic; his ‘routine of relaxation’ was powered by simple, everyday items.
Moving beyond the Land Of Make-Believe, in the realm of reality lives my neighbor, Laura D; like the aforementioned master of puppets, she switches gears as soon as she walks through the door. “The House Sweater” is hefted off a hanger as part of a methodical, meditative moment; cotton provides the call to let go of the day.
Does the sweater’s service as a cathartic catalyst stand out on the tag? Naturally, no. Laura D’s fuzzy friend was never advertised by Anthropologie as a ‘House Sweater’ but a simple sweater can mean something more when steeped in personal value.
People are a peculiar sort, each with his or her own style. Take for example Laura D’s husband’s version of the ‘put your feet up’ principle, which involves a bear-skin rug and a bare bum. Despite the different direction, duds off rather than on, his striptease still stands for something – and the rug is part of his repose.
My ‘melting moment’ involves a delivery of an indestructible chew toy, compliments of my canine, Izzy. Creators of the ‘Blue Cow’ could never have known a stuffed animal would attain such a vaunted value – and that’s for me, not my dog.
A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to market research among the masses may miss the intricacies of intent and actual use. From sweaters that stop the day to the socks that served as Mr. Rogers’ puppets, stuff is always best when used as undirected.
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For those of you new to our Friday fun, we have a tradition of turning a track up to help your week wind down – enjoy!
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9 April 2010
by Rocky ProzellercloseAuthor: Rocky Prozeller
Name: Rocky Prozeller
Site: http://www.communispace.com
About: Rocky is a Senior Community Manager at Communispace, focused on aligning communities to clients’ business objectives and priorities. He ensures that client teams strive to exceed clients’ expectations and consistently deliver actionable insights. Passionate about his family and his dog, Izzy McQueen, dubbed for her uncanny ability to make great escapes from anywhere, Rocky expends his abundant energy by running, weight-training, reading, and routing for another Red Sox World Series ring.See Authors Posts (33)
Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the Fasten Seat Belt Sign; please make sure your pocket books are in their upright and open positions.
Earlier this week Spirit Airlines put a price on placing bags in overhead bins; now, depending on whether travelers ‘pre-reserve’ their place in advance or enroll in the ‘Ultra-Low Fare Club,’ their ticket prices fly an extra $20 to $45 – not exactly peanuts.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the Fasten Seat Belt Sign; please make sure your pocket books are in their upright and open positions.
Earlier this week Spirit Airlines put a price on placing bags in overhead bins; now, depending on whether travelers ‘pre-reserve’ their place in advance or enroll in the ‘Ultra-Low Fare Club,’ their ticket prices fly an extra $20 to $45 – not exactly peanuts.
Each passenger can still store one personal item under a seat for free, such as a purse, briefcase, backpack or laptop computer. Airline officials suggest their overhead storage solution provides a “bring less; pay less” policy which ultimately benefits customers. Is it Hindenburg hot-air or a grounded rationale?
The procedure for boarding creates a carry-on craze every flight. Starting with the nerve-racking race to be first on the plane to place your luggage, right through takeoff as the last man standing plays a game of hide-and-seek, desperately searching for any space to stash their stuff. Post-plane landing, patrons are then treated to an extra five minutes as the wild goose chase to bring a bag back down, stalls the stampede off the plane.
Hypothetically, fewer bags on the plane put people on the ground faster; that is, if baggage handlers do their part. More importantly, if Spirit’s newfound spare change nets the average flyer a cheaper choice in flight, its sales might actually soar.
Rash reactions will run their course as an already injured industry and airline takes on additional turbulence, but once the program passes through its takeoff jitters, Spirit Airlines will be wise to check with the consumer control tower to see if they’re clear to continue their current flight path or require a reroute to a new destination.
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We request that all electronic devices be turned off until we fly through till Monday. We will notify you when it is safe to use such devices.
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26 March 2010
by Rocky ProzellercloseAuthor: Rocky Prozeller
Name: Rocky Prozeller
Site: http://www.communispace.com
About: Rocky is a Senior Community Manager at Communispace, focused on aligning communities to clients’ business objectives and priorities. He ensures that client teams strive to exceed clients’ expectations and consistently deliver actionable insights. Passionate about his family and his dog, Izzy McQueen, dubbed for her uncanny ability to make great escapes from anywhere, Rocky expends his abundant energy by running, weight-training, reading, and routing for another Red Sox World Series ring.See Authors Posts (33)
Regardless of your registration status, revelers on the ‘Right’ and lovers of the ‘Left’ alike, whether you thought it was the medicine we need or cause enough to make you sick, we can all agree, Healthcare Reform is a big f–king deal.
In his Tuesday preamble presenting the President for a symbolic signing before a group of supporters and media moguls, Vice President Joe Biden praised Obama’s “perseverance” and “clarity of purpose” then saluted the would-be-signer with a smile, and as an aside added, “This is a big f–king deal!”
Regardless of your registration status, revelers on the ‘Right’ and lovers of the ‘Left’ alike, whether you thought it was the medicine we need or cause enough to make you sick, we can all agree, Healthcare Reform is a big f–king deal.
In his Tuesday preamble presenting the President for a symbolic signing before a group of supporters and media moguls, Vice President Joe Biden praised Obama’s “perseverance” and “clarity of purpose” then saluted the would-be-signer with a smile, and as an aside added, “This is a big f–king deal!”
It’s hard to disagree with the declaration, after all, it’s not a little f–king deal; but should Biden be busted for malpractice?
True, the cuss, caught with an open-microphone, was spouted in the historic East Room of the White House in front of an audience sporting formal wear, which is nothing to sneeze at, but isn’t it just another in a growing line of Biden-isms? The White House wasn’t too worried; shortly after the ceremony, White House Press Secretary used his Twitter feed to leverage levity: “And yes Mr. Vice President, you’re right.”
The unexpected eavesdropping revealed the real Biden, in that instant of intimate repartee we were treated to an x-ray which went beyond the polished pseudo-version the White House staff has created in their PR labs. It was genuine; it was Biden.
The brief banter features a fine lesson: the best stuff comes from listening in on exclusive exchanges, allowing you to catch the moments you least expect. As children we’re taught not to snoop, but as marketers, placing a proverbial stethoscope on your customers can be as revealing as a hospital gown.
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Looking for your own dose of good medicine? Here’s a shot from Dr. Feelgood sure to get your weekend off on the right start…
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12 March 2010
by Rocky ProzellercloseAuthor: Rocky Prozeller
Name: Rocky Prozeller
Site: http://www.communispace.com
About: Rocky is a Senior Community Manager at Communispace, focused on aligning communities to clients’ business objectives and priorities. He ensures that client teams strive to exceed clients’ expectations and consistently deliver actionable insights. Passionate about his family and his dog, Izzy McQueen, dubbed for her uncanny ability to make great escapes from anywhere, Rocky expends his abundant energy by running, weight-training, reading, and routing for another Red Sox World Series ring.See Authors Posts (33)
Does Yosemite Sam enjoy the occasional shot of espresso? Perhaps, but as Starbucks recently learned fans of the Second Amendment sure do. The brewer of brown beverages found itself in the throes of a nationwide debate centered not on caffeine, but gun rights.
Does Yosemite Sam enjoy the occasional shot of espresso? Perhaps, but as Starbucks recently learned fans of the Second Amendment sure do. The brewer of brown beverages found itself in the throes of a nationwide debate centered not on caffeine, but gun rights.
After California Pizza Kitchen and Peet’s Coffee & Tea put a policy in place preventing people from packing heat on their hip when in stores, a gathering of gun-toting citizens were forced to find a new place to frequent—so they sauntered to Starbucks.
Legally, they’re allowed to lug their heavy metal in any of the 43 states which protect the principle; of course businesses bear the right to prohibit people from entering their establishment when wearing weapons—which represents the firepower behind the fracas.
Starbucks is staying centered, ignoring both the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence’s pleas to ban artillery at the bistro and OpenCarry.org’s overture calling for its 28,000 members to caffeinate there in a show of support.
Standing behind a belief that gun-control debate belongs in the legislatures and courts, Starbucks suggests adopting a policy of prohibition in states where it’s legal to roam with a revolver would place its employees in the untenable position of pushing law abiding customers out of stores—an unfair and potentially unsafe position.
As we stand atop our virtual soapbox during these blog sessions, our solution usually starts with a simple adage: ask your customer. But is that a decaffeinated cup of caution in this case? Both sides sport ammunition in the form of numbers, so who does Starbucks select as a sounding board?
Ordering an opinion from Regular Joe is still justified. It’s the average customer (the many, many more who mind the middle of the argument) who matter most; uncovering their passion, or perhaps utter lack thereof, may provide a made-to-order PR solution. After all, finding an answer doesn’t have to be as difficult as dictating an order for a half double decaffeinated half-caf, with a shot of caramel.
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As you pull the trigger on the weekend make sure to get your fill of fun, but don’t forget to set those clocks accordingly on Sunday!
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26 February 2010
by Rocky ProzellercloseAuthor: Rocky Prozeller
Name: Rocky Prozeller
Site: http://www.communispace.com
About: Rocky is a Senior Community Manager at Communispace, focused on aligning communities to clients’ business objectives and priorities. He ensures that client teams strive to exceed clients’ expectations and consistently deliver actionable insights. Passionate about his family and his dog, Izzy McQueen, dubbed for her uncanny ability to make great escapes from anywhere, Rocky expends his abundant energy by running, weight-training, reading, and routing for another Red Sox World Series ring.See Authors Posts (33)
Secure your sequins and squeeze into those spandex, ice skating is in season. Through 14 days of Olympic Coverage there’s been naught but a single night where audiences weren’t subjected to ice skating in some form—the Opening Ceremony. Apparently by “coverage” of the Olympic Games, NBC meant a spotlight on skating in all its forms.
Despite a limited love for the sport, admittedly accredited to an inability to see past the pageantry nor distinguish between a salchow and axel jump , through this past weekend I had set a personal record in viewership—that is until Ice Dancing dominated Monday’s lineup and I was finally forced to put the games on ice.
Secure your sequins and squeeze into those spandex, ice skating is in season. Through 14 days of Olympic Coverage there’s been naught but a single night where audiences weren’t subjected to ice skating in some form—the Opening Ceremony. Apparently by “coverage” of the Olympic Games, NBC meant a spotlight on skating in all its forms.
Despite a limited love for the sport, admittedly accredited to an inability to see past the pageantry nor distinguish between a salchow and axel jump , through this past weekend I had set a personal record in viewership—that is until Ice Dancing dominated Monday’s lineup and I was finally forced to put the games on ice.
My personal preference aside, the chorus of complaints from viewers has continued (and climbed) through the weeks. The USA-plus plan for coverage, using downtime in skating to show snippets of other events (often on delay from earlier in the day) leaves something to be desired—like seeing other countries compete in any of the events. Those on the West Coast are riddled with ridiculous three-hour lag times, despite having clocks tuned to the same time-zone as Vancouver and real-time access to results. Ignoring mass-interest in another episode on ice, US versus Canada in hockey, NBC excommunicated the event to cable’s MSNBC, a news network; 8.22 million fans followed (again, a near record in ratings), but we’re left to guess what the game would have drawn if offered en masse on basic cable.
Not long ago much was made of NBC’s creative use of ratings to endorse Leno’s return to the late night lineup, a policy they’re playfully pulling back out of their PR pocket . While its true viewership has vaulted past Turin—my attention isn’t for entertainment, it’s for endurance.
NBC is surviving on the success of America’s record run of medals and increased interest in more extreme events, while falsely assigning credit to their own “premier programming.” If the path to seeing Shaun White grab gold leads through tassels and toe loop jumps, then so be it—but my attention and affinity for the network is on thin ice.
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Here’s to uncovering a universally understood maxim heavy hitters, the pleasure of a few work-free days!
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Matt D. 
Laura D. 
AHR 
Brad Mampe 
Lil Pro 
Jani Fraga 
Well, I don’t care what other people say – I think Mr. One Eye is real.